Beauty Of A Boattail

Frank and Morris Eckhart of Auburn, Ind., started the Auburn Motor Co. in 1903. As their business grew, they acquired more dealerships to stay ahead of the competition, but by the mid-'20s size had caught up with them, and they were in need of new leadership. In 1925 Errett Lobban Cord became general manager. Under Cord the new Auburn became a very different company, emphasizing style when others in the industry concentrated on engineering.

By 1931 Auburn was able to sell its fully equipped V-12 cars for well under $2,000 (about $24,000 today), and the V-8s were cheaper still. By 1934 the Depression had caught up, and sales were falling. As a remedy, Auburn returned to the six-cylinder model and curtailed V-12 production. In addition, the 1935 Model 851 Boattail Speedster was an effort to boost sales with a car that offered style, performance and a younger, sportier image.

A new body was designed by Gordon Buehrig, and an optional supercharger was available for the eight-cylinder engine, boosting output to150 horsepower. Each of the 146 supercharged Speedsters produced carried a dash plaque indicating the speed at which the car had been tested. To promote their speed, David Abbot "Ab" Jenkins drove a stock Auburn on the Bonneville Salt Flats, breaking the American class speed record. For its elegant styling, Auburn also won top prizes at the concours d'elegance held at the Universal Exposition in Brussels.

Although built from fairly pedestrian mechanical components, such as a flathead straight-eight engine, Auburn Speedsters, particularly the later Buehrig designs like this car, have always had a high demand among classic car collectors. Like few other American cars of their time, the Speedsters enjoy a playboy image and, with the addition of a centrifugal supercharger, could comport themselves quite well against contemporary rivals when it came to all-out speed and acceleration.

The snug, poshly appointed two-passenger cockpit, hunkered-down convertible top and long, tapered tail all fairly shout "adventure" for driver and lucky passenger. These cars have enduring style, so much so that they continue to be duplicated in fiberglass to this day, with modern drive trains tucked under the sleek bodies. --Dave Brownell for Sports Car Market magazine

Forbes Fact

While the Speedster created huge demand, the company still lost considerable money on each one. And although Errett Lobban Cord himself was a heck of a strategist for a while (buying up smaller rivals and sucking them dry of resources to float daily operating costs), eventually the conglomerate collapsed when consumers were unwilling to pony up for new, let alone luxurious, cars. By 1937 the Cord Corp. fell into bankruptcy.

Perhaps for that reason, today's few remaining Auburns and Cords attract serious money, especially those that have been as gently treated and immaculately restored as this example.

This car had very few owners, and the later ones included noted Auburn authority John Ehresman of Al Restorations in Southwick, Mass., who purchased the car in 1980 and fully restored it over the next four years. At the same time, he rebuilt the engine. The next owner was Ralph Marano, who then sold it to the well-known East Coast collector Noel Thompson, who had the famous Stone Barn Restorations freshen the prior work. The car then passed from Thompson to car fanatic Pat Ryan in 1995.

Still, was such a pedigree worth what it fetched--$314,000--at the Christie's Pebble Beach sale, held Aug. 19, 2001?

Even for a late Auburn Boattail Speedster as beautiful--and beautifully restored--as this car, $314,000 is still a whacking amount of money to pay for a model that regularly sells in the region of $200,000 for very correct examples.

This Auburn's new owner paid full price and then some, but he bought a car with impeccable credentials that's ready to go out and grab some more prizes at top-rank events. For those who can afford to take this route to ownership, it is quick, efficient, reassuring and quite possibly a tad cheaper than trying to restore a rough example to the splendid condition of this car.--D.B.